A Testbed for Advanced Network Systems Research and Education

该项目的目的是创建一个可上网的试验台，以支持先进网络系统的研究和教育。它构建并利用了现有的社区资源Open Network Lab(www.onl.wustl.edu)，添加了可配置和扩展的高性能组件，以支持广泛的实验项目。该项目利用了新的低成本10千兆以太网交换技术、双四核服务器和带有多核网络处理器的可编程网络接口卡(NIC)。该项目需要扩展ONL控制和管理软件，开发用于可编程NIC的软件模块，并对现有试验床进行一些扩展，使其更适合于全新的网络研究。高质量的网络系统研究离不开有效的实验测试平台。在网络研究发现自己所处的转型时期，情况尤其如此。在研究系统中开发和演示的重叠托管和网络虚拟化的概念现在正出现在大型商业数据中心中。所谓的公用事业计算或云计算已经成为基于网络的服务的重要交付工具。随着云计算被用于更多通信密集型应用，我们可以预期在云基础设施中对更动态、更面向应用的网络元素的需求会越来越大。第2层网络技术不断创新，从而产生了利用商用以太网交换机的局域网和城域网络，同时突破了传统上将以太网限制到局域网环境的限制。研究界专注于抛开传统网络技术的限制，更好地了解可能的可能性的全新网络想法。这项研究议程的一个关键部分是实验原型的构建和系统评估，以展示新的研究思路这是一个基础设施发展项目，寻求创造一个重要的社区资源。它的智力价值主要在于研究和教育活动，这将使正在开发的新能力的可用性成为可能。通过提供支持10 Gb网络研究的实验环境，试验台使研究人员和学生能够从事目前超出他们能力范围的项目，因为他们需要负担不起的实验基础设施。试验台还通过提供必要的工具和基础设施，使研究人员能够专注于研究想法的创新元素，使他们从许多通常必须在解决更有趣的问题之前完成的更平凡的任务中解放出来，从而提高了研究人员的工作效率。该计划的更广泛影响将从几个方面感受到。首先，通过更好地对网络研究想法进行实验评估，试验台可以帮助促进它们的发展，并促进它们从研究背景过渡到实际应用。其次，首席调查员预计实验床的教育部分将对本科生和研究生教育产生重大影响。有实际实验经验的学生可以更直接地将网络概念与实际网络操作联系起来，从而使他们学得更快，工作效率更高。第三，该项目有助于吸引更多的学生投身科学和工程领域。全球化对世界经济的影响越来越大，这使得美国必须继续在发展新的网络技术方面发挥领导作用。先进但易于使用的实验室设施可以帮助减少阻碍学生进入工程学学习的障碍，并在扭转美国工程学入学人数下降的趋势方面发挥重要作用，特别是在女性和少数族裔学生中。

The purpose of this project is to create an internet-accessible testbed to support research and education in advanced network systems. It builds upon and leverages an existing community resource, the Open Network Lab (www.onl.wustl.edu), adding high performance components that can be configured and extended to support a wide range of experimental projects. The project takes advantage of new low cost 10 gigabit Ethernet switching technology, dual quad-core servers and programmable Network Interface Cards (NICs) with multicore network processors. The project requires extensions to the ONL control and management software, the development of software modules for the programmable NICs and a number of extensions to the existing testbed to make it more suitable for clean slate networking research. Effective experimental testbeds are essential for high quality systems research in networking. This is particularly true during the current period of transition in which networking research finds itself. The concepts of overlay hosting and network virtualization developed and demonstrated in research systems, are now showing up in large, commercial data centers. So-called utility computing or cloud computing has emerged as an important delivery vehicle for web-based services. As cloud computing is used for more communication-intensive applications, we can expect to see a growing need for more dynamic and application-oriented networking elements within the cloud infrastructure. There is increasing innovation in layer 2 networking technology, leading to local and metropolitan area networks that exploit commodity Ethernet switches, while moving beyond the limitations that have traditionally constrained Ethernet to the LAN environment. The research community is focused on clean slate network ideas that put aside the constraints of legacy network technologies to develop a better understanding of what might be possible. A key part of this research agenda is the construction and systematic evaluation of experimental prototypes that demonstrate new research ideas This is an infrastructure development project, seeking to create an important community resource. Its Intellectual Merit lies primarily in the research and educational activities that will be enabled by the availability of the new capabilities being developed. By providing an experimental environment supporting research on 10 gigabit networking, the testbed enables researchers and students to pursue projects that are currently outside their reach, because they require an experimental infrastructure that they cannot afford. The testbed also makes researchers more productive, by providing the necessary tools and infrastructure to allow them to focus on the innovative elements of their research ideas, freeing them from many of the more mundane tasks that typically have to be done before the more interesting issues can be addressed. The Broader Impact of the program will be felt in several ways. First, by enabling better experimental evaluation of networking research ideas, the testbed can help to contribute to their development and can facilitate their transition from the research context to practical application. Second, the principal investigator expects the educational component of the testbed to have a significant impact on undergraduate and graduate education. Students who have meaningful laboratory experiences can make a more direct connection between networking concepts and actual network operation, allowing them to learn faster and become more productive. Third, this project can contribute to attracting more students to careers in science and engineering. The growing impact of globalization on the world economy makes it essential for the United States to continue to play a leadership role in the development of new networking technology. Sophisticated, but easy-to-use laboratory facilities, can help reduce the barriers that can inhibit student entry into engineering studies and can play an important part in reversing the decline in U.S. engineering enrollments, particularly among women and minority students.